Maintaining and Improving Quality

To ensure the independence of the quality assurance departments, the Quality Assurance Headquarters in the corporate division at the head office oversees the quality assurance activities of the entire Kubota Group. The Quality Assurance Headquarters consists of the Quality Assurance Promotion Department—which handles quality risk management (such as audits and training/awareness activities) for the Farm and Industrial Machinery Consolidated Division, the Water and Environment Infrastructure Consolidated Company, and Group companies— and the Product Laws and Regulations Management Department, which ensures compliance with product-related laws and regulations.
The Farm and Industrial Machinery Consolidated Division, Water and Environment Infrastructure Consolidated Company, and Group companies are responsible for conducting quality assurance activities for individual products, technologies, and services.

We hold executive forums for the president and senior management to strengthen efforts in quality and compliance. In this forum, we invite external experts to deliver talks so that participants have the opportunity to learn about the latest information and methods.

Discussion meetings are held for senior management of the Farm and Industrial Machinery Consolidated Division and related departments to foster a culture of prioritizing quality and to improve business processes.

The Kubota Group actively works to prevent quality issues, and one of the typical activities in this is the Design Review (DR). In the DR, not only engineers from the development and design departments participate, but also representatives from manufacturing, quality assurance, and other departments involved with the product. In this process, we evaluate the suitability of the design and the feasibility of functions and performance, identify issues and problems, and implement measures to prevent quality issues before they occur. In the DR, we focus on the novelty of intentional changes and incidental change to conduct appropriate evaluations. Moreover, we have established DR implementation guidelines as an in-house standard and ensure that they are properly followed.

We held training to educate employees about the necessary knowledge, approach, and actions for quality assurance and quality control. In these training sessions, employees learn the basic principles and practical methods of quality control, as well as the necessary awareness and ethics for personnel involved in products, technology, and services to customers. Through this initiative, we aim to enhance awareness and foster an in-house culture of quality.

• New recruit training
• New supervisor training
• New foreman training
• Internal auditor training
• Product risk assessment training
• Quality compliance training
• Engineer ethics training (among others...)

In the Kubota Group, quality control circles conduct activities with the aim of improving the abilities and motivation necessary for problem solving and achieving goals, as well as to foster teamwork. We also have a system in place to recognize employees who achieve outstanding results.

The Kubota Group provides opportunities for employees to think about “Customer First and Quality Priority.” This encourages employees to reflect on their actions and work methods, promoting transformation and suggesting improvements to upper management, thereby improving the overall quality system within the organization.

In the Kubota Group, in order to promote a greater awareness of quality, we recognize employees who have made notable achievements to improve quality in their work. We started this initiative in 2017 for business sites in Japan, but it has now expanded into a global awards program that includes overseas sites.